Longitudinal associations between parents' job characteristics, parenting, and adolescent academic outcomes

Abstract

Objective

This study sought to understand the prospective relationship between parents' jobs, parenting, and adolescents' subsequent school performance.

Background

Recent research shows that parents' poor job quality and work–family conflict (WFC) are adversely associated with young people's mental health and socioemotional well-being, with much less known about impacts on adolescents' academic outcomes.

Method

We used data from a nationally representative Australian cohort study to test a longitudinal model linking parents' job characteristics, WFC, and parenting warmth and irritability in early high school, and adolescents' academic achievement in middle high school. Separate models were run for mothers (N = 2,676) and fathers (N = 2,615), and additional multigroup models examined differences between low-income and middle- and high-income parents.

Results

Findings suggest that parents' WFC increases parenting irritability, which in turn is adversely associated with academic outcomes, particularly for low-income mothers. Findings also showed that low-income fathers' WFC was directly associated with poorer academic outcomes.

Conclusion

Parents' WFC in early high school may affect adolescents' achievement in middle high school, with some risks compounded for low-income households.

Implications

This study is among the first to establish a relationship between parents' WFC and adolescents' academic performance and highlights the importance of parents' job resources in supporting adolescent academic outcomes.